Oak Park grad's long road leads to FIU

Nine months earlier, he was facing the likes of Olive Harvey and Kankakee.

On Nov. 9, Gary found himself on the same floor with a little program known as North Carolina.

"That was quite an experience," Gary said. "What a big difference. The pace, the style of play, everything. That was one of the best experiences I ever had."

Gary, a 2007 Oak Park-River Forest graduate who starred for Malcolm X Community College last season, was among the first group of players Isiah Thomas signed when the NBA legend out of St. Joseph High and Chicago's West Side took the head coaching job at downtrodden Florida International in April.

The 5-foot-11 Gary has been the old point guard's new point guard from Game 1 -- an 88-72 loss to the Tar Heels -- and has averaged 9.1 points, 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals while the Panthers, 13-20 in 2008-09, have gone 5-13 and 2-3 in the Sun Belt Conference.

"This is our first year with everybody," Gary said. "It takes a long time for a team to play together. We are starting to do that. It has been a great learning process. Coach Thomas knows so much about the game. I learn something from him on and off the court every day. When we watch film, I get a pen and a pad and just take notes."

Gary has multiple generations of strong basketball ties. His father, Phil Gary Sr., played against Thomas as a kid and with former Bulls guard Craig Hodges at Long Beach State.

The younger Gary was a grammar school teammate of Bulls star and McDonald's All-American Derrick Rose before his family moved from the South Side to Oak Park, where he teamed with Georgia Tech point guard Iman Shumpert, also a McDonald's All-American.

Gary believed he, too, was a Division I player out of high school but acknowledges that his experiences at Black Hawk College in Moline as a freshman and at Malcolm X last season were necessary for his development.

He credits his coach at Malcolm X, former King and Bradley guard Willie Scott, with raising his game to the Division I level.

"He got me from being a good player to the best I can become," Gary said. "He pushed me until I couldn't take it. He taught me the meaning of going hard.

"He used to see that I would go harder when he got mad at me and made me realize that it shouldn't take him getting me mad to play as hard as I can."

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Phil Gary Jr. file

College: Florida International

Class: Junior

Height: 5-11

Stats: 9.1 points, 3 assists and 1.7 assists per game

High school: Oak Park-River Forest

Malcolm X College: Gary earned a scholarship at Florida International by averaging 19 points and 9 assists last winter.

Future plans: He's pursuing a degree in broadcasting and would like to be a basketball analyst when his playing career ends.